


Twins

by sexmurderparty



Category: Hotline Miami (Video Games)
Genre: Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-20
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 23:40:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10685292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sexmurderparty/pseuds/sexmurderparty
Summary: Two children hold each other in the dark.





	Twins

_Bright lights, sunshine. Star light, star bright._

Two children hold each other in the dark.

_Moonlights, star shine. Low light, goodnight._

They keep their breathing light. If they’re too loud, he might hear them. Then he’ll come after them.

_Good dreams, my love. Sweet sweet daughter._

The older one pulls her sister close, petting her hair to soothe her. It is rough and knotted, but that pain is nothing right now. The younger one does not react to it.

_Seeing you are so darling._

The younger one begins to cry. Her older sister sighs. Alex is so young, she thinks. Too young to understand what’s going on, too young to understand that this, for them, is normal. Too young to become numb to it.

_Shine, flower, like a star so bright._

“Ash, I’m scared,” she says, her voice small in the dark. “Will Mama be okay?” Ash can hardly hear her over the sound of screams and blows from the other room.

_Dreaming petals so white, all so right._

“I don’t know,” she whispers, and she means it. She really...doesn’t know. Their mother has been okay in the past, but…

_Here in my arms you are mine._

Ash isn’t exactly inclined to feel too bad for her. She knows what Papa does to Alex. He hurts Ash too, but she isn’t too concerned about that. She just wants Alex to be safe. If she can take a blow or two to keep Alex from having to endure it, she feels better.

_To carry and protect and love so much._

Ash wishes she could protect Alex from Papa completely though. She can hear it in the night, what happens when he comes home late and Mama is asleep and Ash has to pretend to sleep or things will be worse.

_Falling in dreams, the sweet young girl._

Alex is too young to know what it feels like. She’s too young to have a concept of virginity, to be painfully aware that hers was taken by someone who should never even think of it.

_Sweetly nourish her with your seeds of love._

Ash desperately wants to get Alex away from this house, this place, this city. She’s only eight, she thinks. Maybe Papa touches her instead of Ash because he thinks Ash is a boy...the thought makes her curl her lip in disgust.

_She is your sweetheart._

But she can never say anything when it happens. She must close her eyes and pretend she is sleeping, because if she doesn’t Alex will get hurt more and it hurts Ash so badly to listen to their father whisper sweet nothings and “teach” her things and tell her to keep the events a secret because Mama will get “jealous.”

_She is the one who sweetens the stirry-blurry shade of your he-he-he-he-heart._

She told Ash, however. Alex was always the type to brag when she thought she was getting something special. She felt important. Like Papa loved her more than Ash or Mama. When Ash found out, she was livid. She was young at the time, but she knew better. A teacher had noticed bruises on her neck, swelling in her face. It had motivated the schools to run a short assembly on child abuse.

_Sometimes she might wonder why your love is so (hurtful) heartful._

She told Alex to not tell her friends. If the authorities were to get involved….

_She’s just a flower, so be kind, don’t crush her._

She didn’t want to imagine what would happen.

_Because I don’t-don’t-don’t dare-door opens and there you are._

Ash notices that the commotion has stopped. Their mother is sobbing softly, but the blows have stopped and their father is no longer shouting.

_You were waiting-waiting for me-me-me to play games._

It scares her.

_Dreaming of sweet hands and sweet petals._

These nights, he really likes Alex.

Thinking this is me-her-she is drinking in her senses, loving nothing.

She doesn’t want Alex to think this is what love is supposed to be. What family is supposed to be. Because it isn’t, and she knows that. But Alex doesn’t. Alex knows nothing else. Alex’s only friend is in foster care, has no family of her own. Alex has never been to someone else’s house.

_I, am I? M-A-R-I?_

Ash has. She goes to her friend Mark’s house. His family is kind to her. Ash thinks they know about what’s going on. If they do, they never say anything. Probably out of confusion or fear. That’s alright with her.

_Dreaming, dreaming Mary._

The door opens and Ash pulls Alex to her, holding her tighter. Their father stares at them, eyes gleaming with hate. Spittle decorates his face.

_Waking from the nightmare she is hating-hating-hating._

“Go to bed, Ashton,” he says, voice not betraying his intentions. Ash follows his gaze and swallows hard when she sees the way he’s looking at Alex.

_Your dark oily heart-juices._

Ash shakes her head. “I...haven’t had dinner,” she says meekly, letting Alex bury her face in her chest. Ash blinks back tears. Lately, Alex has figured out how horrible Papa is. It hurts Ash’s heart.

_She runs to her dreams._

Their father glares at the elder sister. “You’ll live. I need to talk to your sister for a second anyways,” he says. His gaze never leaves Alex, dancing over her legs, her back, her arms. Disgust flares up inside Ash.

_Waiting-waiting-waiting for it to end-end-end._

_“Go to bed, Ashton, or I swear to god I’ll knock you out.” Ash believes him. She gives Alex one last squeeze, and kisses the top of her head._

__Ending, ending, ending. She is ending, ending, mending._ _

_“Don’t let him see you cry,” she whispers to her gently, and reluctantly lets her go._

__In the starlights waiting for the sunshine._ _

_Fast forward 20 years later. Alex is a strong, well-built woman who never lets any man touch her without her consent. Ash is a level-headed, non-violent woman who will smart off to anyone she likes. Nobody ever questions their closeness. Nobody ever asks why sometimes Alex gets a faraway look in her eye when she watches Tony fight. Nobody ever mocks Ash when she gets too defensive of her sister._

__On her(hurting) heart(less) soul(ful) flower._ _

_Sometimes, they are those children in the dark again. Ash is never upset when Alex knocks on the door at four in the morning, tears in her eyes, saying that Papa is in her house. Ash never tells her that Papa died years ago. It would just confuse her more in that state. Instead, she is saddened that his grip on them did not die with him. Instead, she holds her sister close and lulls her to sleep the way she did all those years ago. Instead, she keeps her safe._

_Alex does the same for Ash. She knows that her older sister gets scared when Tony drinks, even though he’s never laid a hand on her. She knows that her older sister cries if she has to finish someone off. She knows that her older sister can’t breathe if she goes too long without eating. So when this happens, she rubs her back, singing to her quietly, singing the lullaby that Ash used to sing for her when they were young._

_When Alex sees her sister, her protector, her friend, die, she feels a piece of her die as well. Without her, she thought, I am vulnerable. She turns to her sister’s killer._

_“What the fuck are you waiting fo-”_

_BANG!_

_She falls._

_As she dies, so too does Papa’s grip on the both of them._

_Now, she thinks before it ends, they are free._

**Author's Note:**

> this is mostly a coping thing so yeah.


End file.
